Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Sentenced to Death

By Mark Wilson, Esq. on May 18, 2015 2:55 PM

Did you really think it was going to end differently? After weeks of testimony in the sentencing phase of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the same federal jury that found him guilty April 30 sentenced him to death Friday for the bombing that killed three, and injured more than 240 others.

The courtroom in Boston was tense as Judge George O'Toole Jr. read the 24-page verdict form. Before the jurors could actually impose the death penalty, they had to find true several foundational facts, including that Tsarnaev intentionally killed the three victims and that he "specifically engaged in an act of violence." All of these had to be found unanimously true, which they were.

The jury also found unanimously true the statutory aggravating factors, as well as all the non-statutory aggravating factors, except for a factor in which Tsarnaev was alleged to have encouraged others to commit acts of violence against the United States.

The jury didn't think much of that theory; only three of the twelve jurors agreed that he "acted under the influence of his older brother" and that he was "particularly susceptible to his older brother's influence." While most of the jurors also acknowledged that Tsarnaev's friends and teachers believed him to be thoughtful and caring, the jury unanimously determined that the aggravating factors for six of the capital counts outweighed the mitigating factors, resulting in a death sentence.

Tsarnaev, however, isn't the typical defendant whose case is caught up in appeals for years over DNA evidence or mental capacity. His defense attorney acknowledged that he did it; the identities of the bombers aren't in question, and neither is his mental capacity. Even so, it may be several years before Tsarnaev exhausts his appeals.

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